Photo editing with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Published: June 6, 2005
When you view digital photos on a computer monitor or TV screen, you can really see the problems with your photos. The large screen exposes all the flaws: your photo is too light, too dark, has a red eye problem, or contains distracting elements. I've had friends who share my interest in photography and also own computers that run Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
ask me to recommend software for retouching digital photos on their Media Center. I realize they don't know about the cool tools they already have.
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 includes a built-in mini-digital darkroom, which lets you correct these common problems and a few others. Unlike many stand-alone photo-editing programs that can be purchased separately, the tools built into Media Center are easy to use. You can use the intuitive interface to access great retouching features with your mouse or with the Media Center remote. Then you can preview changes easily before you save the altered photo.
In this column I'll introduce the photo-editing tools included in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. I'll explain how to improve your photos using your mouse or the Media Center remote to:
| • | Remove red eye |
| • | Crop digital photos |
| • | Adjust contrast |
| • | Print photos from Media Center |
I'll also point you toward some of my favorite digital photography sites and the Windows XP newsgroups where you'll find more information on choosing a camera, taking photos, fixing mistakes, and creating memorable photos.
Copy photos to your Media Center PC
Media Center PCs typically come with built-in memory card readers. Popular memory card types include CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Sony MemoryStick, and more. Inserting the memory card into the Media Center PC card reader lets you view your photos on the Media Center screen, use the built-in photo-editing features, and then save the edited photo to your hard disk or back to the memory card.
After every photo session, I create a new folder and copy the photos from my camera's memory card to my hard disk. When I insert a memory card in the 8-in-1 reader, one of the choices presented by Windows XP is to copy the photos on my memory card to My Pictures or another folder. I edit the photos that I've saved to this new folder on my computer. This means that I always have a copy of the original photo on the memory card in case I don't like the edited ones. I replace the original photos on the memory card with the edited ones only after I'm happy with the results.
Note: If you're using a high-end digital camera and shoot in the Raw file format such as Nikon's NEF format, you won't be able to edit your photos on your Media Center PC until you convert them to .jpg format using an external program. I've use either Paint Shop Pro 9 or Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 to do this.
How to find the Media Center photo-editing tools
Many Media Center PC owners don't know how to access the photo-editing features in Media Center Edition 2005 because they don't appear on the main My Pictures menu. However, you can access these advanced features from within My Pictures.
To open Picture Details when you're in thumbnails view in My Pictures
| • | When you're working with a keyboard and mouse, rest your mouse on a selected thumbnail to make it active. Right-click the thumbnail and then click Picture Details. |
| • | When using the Media Center remote, select an active thumbnail. Then press the More Info button, select Picture Details, and then press OK. |
| • | When viewing an individual photo full screen, even during a slide show, right-click the photo to display More Info or press the More Info button on your Media Center remote and then select Picture Details. |
The Picture Details menu contains the following commands: Play Slide Show, Rotate, Print, Touch Up, Delete, Next, and Previous. Rotate is a handy feature that lets you change the orientation of a photo from landscape to portrait. I prefer to crop my photos before changing the orientation. If you're otherwise happy with the photo and don't need to do any further editing, the Rotate tool is a fast way to help your audience appreciate your work without having to tilt their heads. The Touch Up menu offers advanced but intuitive options to use when editing a photo.
Remove red eye from photos
One of the more common photo problems is red eye. If you use a flash to shoot pictures of subjects in poorly-lit surroundings, their eyes can turn red in the photo, as shown below.
The red eye condition is an obvious problem in this photo.
Red eye can happen even when using your camera's built-in flash. Some newer cameras have red eye reduction flash, but it doesn't always work. Media Center PCs can easily make this correction for you.
To remove red eye using Media Center Edition 2005
1. | Display or select the photo you want to correct. |
2. | Right-click the photo to display More Info or press the More Info button on the Media Center remote, and then select Picture Details. |
3. | Select Touch Up, select Contrast and then Red Eye. (The check mark indicates that a tool is active.) If you don't like the result, select Red Eye a second time. This will undo the correction. |
4. | Select Preview to view the adjusted photo full screen, as shown below. |
5. | Press Back on the remote, and then select Save. |
6. | Select Yes to Apply Changes and replace the original with the edited version of the photo. |
Contrast and Red Eye corrections improve a photo.
Occasionally, red eye removal only does not find both eyes. If you select Contrast first and then select Red Eye so that both functions are active, red eye removal should operate properly.
Crop your digital photos
Cropping lets you cut off the rectangular borders of digital photos. The idea behind cropping is focus: you cut off extraneous parts of the photo that detract from the part you want to emphasize. Below is an uncropped photo that contained wires and concrete blocks that took away from the impact of the kayaker in the river.
Note the unattractive concrete objects at the top of one of my unedited photos.
When you preview a photo on the LCD display of a digital camera, it's not always easy to see which objects detract from the overall aesthetic appeal of a photo. Overhead wires and telephone polls in outdoor shots don't always become obvious until you see your digital photo on the computer or TV screen for the first time. See the Art of Cropping for cropping tips.
Most add-in photo editing software like Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop requires you to designate a rectangular area on the photo by dragging the mouse over the area and adjusting the crop area. Some people find this careful control of the pointer, which is referred to as "rubber banding," to be a difficult task. But Media Center Edition 2005 has one of the nicest implementations of a cropping feature that I've seen. When you use the crop tools that are available along the bottom of a photo, a translucent mask lets you easily adjust which portion of a photo will be viewable after cropping.
To crop photos in Media Center
1. | In My Pictures select the photo you want to crop. |
2. | Press the More Info button on the remote, and then select Picture Details. |
3. | On the Touch Up menu, select Crop. Controls appear beneath the photo as shown below. These controls graphically show the direction the crop mask will move. |
4. | Use the pointer or Media Center remote to select up/down, left/right, and more/less area. You can also switch the orientation of the crop mask from landscape to portrait.  Crop tools are easily available along the bottom of a selected photo. |
5. | Select Preview to view the cropped photo full screen. |
6. | Click the Back button or press Back on the remote. |
7. | Select Save, and then select Yes to Apply Changes, as shown below.  I've cropped the photo using the remote and am ready to save the edited photo to the Media Center PC desktop. |
The original photo is replaced with the edited cropped version of the photo. You can see the final result below.
The final cropped result is displayed on my Media Center PC.
I can also crop the photo while viewing it on my 45-inch LCD TV connected to a Media Center Extender using the remote over my wireless network. Windows Media Center Extender devices connect a Media Center PC with TVs and monitors in your home. If you intend to edit remotely from a Media Center Extender and if you've read my previous column on How to Secure Your Wireless Home Network with Windows XP and turned off simple file sharing, you may receive an error message when attempting to save a photo using a Media Center Extender. This happens if you store your digital photos in a shared folder such as C:\Pictures. Even if you have previously shared the folder on the network, you will need to add MCRD Users to the list of groups on the Security tab. Then enable Full Control for this group.
Adjust the contrast of your photos
Contrast is the difference between the darkest and brightest parts of a photo. Low contrast photos look flat and muddy. Most people agree that when contrast is higher, a picture is more pleasant to look at.
With Media Center Edition 2005, I prefer to adjust contrast while making other changes so that I can preview the overall outcome all at one time. You can, however, adjust the contrast of a photo independently.
Note: If you're using a high-end digital camera and shoot in the Raw file format such as Nikon's NEF format, you won't be able to edit your photos on your Media Center PC until you convert them to .jpg format using an external program. I use either Paint Shop Pro 9 or Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 to do this.
To adjust contrast of a photo
1. | In My Pictures select the photo you want to edit. |
2. | Press the More Info button on the remote, and then select Picture Details. |
3. | On the Touch Up menu, select Contrast. |
4. | Then Preview and Save the edited photo. |
Print photos from Media Center
When I'm using the desktop interface, I prefer to print from full-screen mode after I'm happy with an altered photo. Full-screen is a Media Center mode in which the entire screen of the monitor is used to display the photos.
To print from the desktop while viewing a photo full screen
1. | Press ALT + PRINT SCREEN. A confirmation dialog box lets you OK sending the photo to your default printer. You can also cancel the print request here. |
Get help using Media Center Edition 2005 photo-editing tools
I hope you'll find these photo-editing features as easy and fun to work with as I do. I love digital photography and currently shoot with a Nikon D70. If you're interested in technical reviews of many digital cameras recently released or are interested in news of digital camera developments, I recommend Steve's Digicams. For general photography tips, Shutterbug Online and BetterPhoto.com provide a wealth of information.
If you need help or want to ask a question about this column, be sure to post your questions in the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 newsgroup. See you there!
 | Barb Bowman enjoys sharing her own experiences and insights into today's leading edge technologies. She is a product development manager for Comcast High-Speed Internet, but her views here are strictly personal.
|
